Friday, January 30, 2009

I am back in my little office at home after two whirlwind days of Learning Technologies 09 conference. I have to write up a report on Track 2 (learning in practice) and on George Siemens's keynote, which will no doubt be published somewhere. Once I've written the report, I will probably unpack a few of the sessions in greater depth. But I thought I'd just unload some of the initial swirling impressions... in no particular order.

L&D professionals are getting the message about learner empowerment. I'm sure the battle is a long way from won, but we're gaining ground

L&D professionals are falling out of love with courses and are demonstrating a decrease in the idea that 'we have a performance gap' translates to 'we need a training course'

Nevertheless, many L&D professionals are still having a hard time persuading senior management teams that this is not some namby pamby, pink and fluffy HR fad

We need to be careful not to see each shiny New Thing as a replacement of existing things. Sometimes a New Thing is just that: a new thing. One which we can add to our toolkit. When you buy a hammer, you don't throw away your entire toolbox

George Siemens is a genius. I had been looking forward to meeting George in the flesh ever since I heard he was coming to the conference. So how did I choose to ensure that our first meeting was the beginning of a lasting, meaningful friendship? The very first words out of my mouth were, "You're a lot smaller than you seem online." Way to go, Karyn! How to win friends and influence people

L&D people need to come out of their ivory towers and engage with the business, aligning their provision with the business goals and taking an active role in steering the business forward

Apparently - according to Jay Cross - I look like Sarah Palin :o( . He took this photo at dinner on Tuesday night to prove his point. You decide. He had threatened to say as much from the platform, but even though he didn't, before the conference was over, word had spread and I was being 'Palin-ed' left and right

Some noted luminaries need to move away from the idea that learning = recall!

7 comments:

You do look like Palin and you look so fresh. Interesting points,looking forward to the detailed versions of these. I am taking a break but am finding my interest in learning deepening as I read more and more each day about mind, learning and retention. It would be surreal to figure out a way to retain all that we learn. Learning is application but not retention? As I write this I learn about learning! Thanks for sharing.

About Me

I have been involved in learning and development (L&D) for 25 years. My primary focus is on workplace learning, but I have worked in a wide range of sectors including charities, sports bodies, education and government bodies. I find it very hard to draw boundaries, because learning is so much a part of everything in life.